Crum Center finally opens

Viewers gathered to watch as the Crum Basketball Center was dedicated Thursday morning. The center has been under construction since its groundbreaking in December 2006, after Sylvie P. and Gary T. Crum gave a large leadership gift and made the idea of a new basketball facility a reality.

Gary T. Crum is president of the CFP Foundation, and a founder and former director of AIM Management Group, Inc.

Other donors include the Embrey Family Foundation, David and Carolyn Miller, Victor and Gladie Jo Salvio, and William and Cynthia Ward.

The $13 million, 43,000 square-foot center, located at SMU Boulevard and Dublin Street, includes two full-size practice courts, players’ locker rooms and lounges, a fully equipped training and rehabilitation room with in-ground hydrotherapy pools, a strength and condition room, coaches’ offices, and film editing rooms. A tunnel links the center to Moody Coliseum.

Advantages of the Crum Basketball Center include dedicated space for basketball programs to practice and train. This maximum availability for student-athletes and coaches resolves scheduling conflicts the SMU basketball program had faced in the past.

In addition, SMU basketball coaches hope the new facility will aid in recruitment efforts.